Poltergeist
Poltergeist is a 2015 American supernatural horror film directed by Gil Kenan, written by David Lindsay-Abaire and produced by Sam Raimi. A remake of the 1982 film of the same name, the film stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, and Jane Adams. It was released on May 22, 2015, by 20th Century Fox. The film has received negative reviews from critics and has grossed over $73 million worldwide. Plot Eric and Amy Bowen are looking to buy a new house with their three children: eldest daughter, Kendra; their son, Griffin; and youngest daughter, Madison. Eric was recently laid off, but they are shown a house that has recently come on the market that fits their price range, so they move in. The first night, they hear strange noises in the walls, and Griffin finds a box of clown dolls that were left at the house. In the middle of the night, lights and electronic devices start turning on and off, as some unseen force appears to move through the home. The commotion wakes Griffin, and he goes downstairs and finds Madison talking to an unknown presence inside the television. She tells Griffin someone is coming, and he attempts to unplug the TV, causing the lights to go out of control. Eric and Amy learn that their house was built on an old cemetery, but that only the headstones and not the bodies were moved to a better neighbourhood. At the house, Kendra's phone begins emitting strange sounds, and she becomes trapped in the basement by a ghost. Griffin notices the clown dolls seem to be moving by themselves. One clown doll attacks him, but he is able to destroy it and escape. He tells Madison to stay in her room while he goes to find Kendra. Madison is lured into her closet and becomes lost in an unending void. She is then dragged into the darkness by ghosts. Griffin is grabbed by the branches of the old tree outside their house, which pulls him outside. Amy and Eric arrive home to see Griffin being tossed around in the tree branches while Kendra tells them she can't find Madison. The family realizes Madison is trapped inside the TV when they hear her voice emanating from it. Amy and Griffin visit the Paranormal Research department for help. The staff sets up equipment in the house. They give GPS locators to everyone in the house, so they will know where everyone is at all times. While trying to contact Madison, Eric is ambushed in the closet by a ghost resembling her. Angered, he breaks down the closet wall, revealing the portal that Madison fell through. The investigators realize that this haunting is a poltergeist. The lead investigator Dr. Brooke Powell decides to call occult specialist and television personality Carrigan Burke. Carrigan arrives and explains that Madison is a possible psychic, able to communicate with spirits. He reveals that the poltergeists are trapped and are angry because only the headstones were moved to the new cemetery, but the bodies remained. They plan on using Madison to free them from their purgatory. Carrigan comes up with a plan to get Madison back. He anchors a rope in Madison's room and tosses it into the vortex. They attempt to use Griffin's toy drone to guide Madison out, but it's destroyed by the poltergeists. Griffin, ridden with guilt over leaving Madison alone in the first place, goes through the portal himself. When he finds Madison, the poltergeists attempt to destroy the rope to trap them, but they both escape. The family begins to leave but they are stopped by the poltergeists, who drag them back into the house and attempt to abduct Madison again. The family saves her, and Carrigan decides that as the only other psychic, he must go into the vortex and lead the spirits into the light. The Bowens flee as the house is torn apart by a giant light. The investigative team run to their equipment, looking for a sign that Carrigan managed to get back. As the Bowens look for a new house, the realtor shows them a house with lots of closet space and an old tree in the backyard; the Bowens drive away laughing. During the end credits, it's revealed that Carrigan survived the incident and is back filming his ghost program, now hosting the show with Dr. Powell. Cast * Sam Rockwell as Eric Bowen * Rosemarie DeWitt as Amy Bowen * Jared Harris as Carrigan Burke * Jane Adams as Dr. Brooke Powell * Saxon Sharbino as Kendra Bowen * Kyle Catlett as Griffin Bowen * Kennedi Clements as Madison Bowen * Nicholas Braun as Boyd * Susan Heyward as Sophie * Soma Bhatia as Lauren Production In early September 2013, the crew shot interior scenes for the film in an old residence in Toronto.Exterior shots were filmed on the West Mountain of Hamilton. The film was shot and released in 3D. Release On August 6, 2014, the film's release date was shifted from February 13, 2015 to July 24, 2015. On March 4, 2015, the date was shifted again towas previously set for Spy. It was released in 3D. Marketing The film's first trailer was released on February 5, 2015.Forrest Wickman of Slate Magazine's opinion was that the trailer made the film appear to be too similar to the original film. James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly said that the trailer "retains and amplifies several elements from the original", and praised that "the modernizing doesn’t result in, say, the family’s daughter being kidnapped by ghosts in Snapchat". Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting stated that "while every fiber of my being wants to reject it, film actually looks pretty insane", and praised the trailer's final shot. Ben Kuchera of Polygon also opined that the trailer appeared to be similar to the original film, but that it "looks great, as a horror movie". Reception Box office As of June 25, 2015, Poltergeist has grossed $46.8 million in North America and $26.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $73.1 million, against a budget of an estimated $35 million. In North America, Poltergeist made $1.4 million during its Thursday night showings from 2,500 theaters,and an estimated $9.4 million on its opening day. Through its first three-day opening, it grossed $22.6 million from 3,240 theaters, debuting at fourth place at the box office behind Tomorrowland, Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road. In comparison to prior horror film reboots, its opening is well below the openings of 2009's Friday the 13th ($40.57 million), 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street ($32.9 million), 2003's''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' ($28.1 million), and right below 2005's The Amityville Horror ($23.5 million). Outside North America, it earned $8.3 million on its opening weekend from 3,750 screens in 36 countries, finishing at sixth place at the international box office. In the Uk, Ireland and Malta it opened in third place with $2.2 million and Brazil with $2 million. Critical reception Poltergeist has received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 32%, based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "Paying competent homage without adding anything of real value to the original Poltergeist, this remake proves just as ephemeral (but half as haunting) as its titular spirit." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Writing for Variety, Andrew Barker called it "generally entertaining yet fundamentally unnecessary" and concluded: "Even when one is inclined to admire the cleverness with which the remake revisits and reincorporates Poltergeist‍ 's themes, it’s hard to pinpoint a single moment where it improves on them, and the aura of inessentiality hangs thick over the proceedings".21 Neil Genzlinger gave the film a positive review in The New York Times, writing: "The new Poltergeist might well be the scariest movie 13-or-unders have yet seen, just as the original was for their parents back in 1982. Those parents might find it an enjoyable trip down memory lane, even if they do now recognize it as largely a well-served collection of horror-movie tropes". Tirdad Derakhshani wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer: "It's not exactly a scary film, but it does provide an enjoyable ride. It's good fun. But it left me befuddled", adding: "Why would anyone want to remake Poltergeist in the first place?". Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mike McCahill called the film "an efficient scare-machine". Bilge Ebiri wrote in New York magazine: "This new Poltergeist isn't anything special... But it's not a travesty, and that feels like cause for brief celebration". In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Poltergeist an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. Category:2015 films Category:American films Category:Horror films Category:20th Century Fox films